British rock music

British rock describes a wide variety of forms of music made in the United Kingdom. Since around 1964, with the "British Invasion" of the United States spearheaded by the Beatles, British rock music

Early British rock and roll#

In the 1950s, Britain was well placed to receive American rock and roll music and culture. It shared a common language, had been exposed to American culture through the stationing of troops in the country, and shared many social developments, including the emergence of distinct youth sub-cultures, which in Britain included the Teddy Boys. Trad jazz became popular, and many of its musicians were influenced by related American styles, including boogie-woogie and the blues. The skiffle craze, led by Lonnie Donegan, utilised mostly amateurish versions mainly of American folk songs and encouraged many of the subsequent generation of rock and roll, folk, R&B and beat musicians to start performing. At the same time British audiences were beginning to encounter American rock and roll, initially through films including Blackboard Jungle (1955) and Rock Around the Clock (1955). Both films contained the Bill Haley & His Comets hit “Rock Around the Clock”, which first entered the British charts in early 1955 – four months before it reached the US pop charts – topped the British charts later that year and again in 1956, and helped identify rock and roll with teenage delinquency. American rock and roll acts such as Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Buddy Holly thereafter became major forces in the British charts. The initial response of the British music industry was to attempt to produce copies of American records, recorded with session musicians and often fronted by teen idols. British rock and rollers soon began to appear, including Wee Willie Harris and Tommy Steele. The bland or wholly imitative form of much British rock and roll in this period meant that the American product remained dominant. However, in 1958 Britain produced its first “authentic” rock and roll song and star, when Cliff Richard reached number 2 in the charts with “Move It”. British impresario Larry Parnes fashioned young singers to the new trend, giving them corny names such as Billy Fury, Marty Wilde and Vince Eager. At the same time, TV shows such as Six-Five Special and Oh Boy!, both produced by Jack Good, promoted the careers of British rock and rollers like Marty Wilde and Adam Faith. Cliff Richard and his backing band The Drifters, who quickly changed their name to The Shadows, were the most successful home grown rock and roll based acts of the era. Other leading acts included Joe Brown, and Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, whose 1960 hit song “Shakin’ All Over” became a rock and roll standard. The first American rock and roll artist to hit British stages and appear on television was Charlie Gracie, quickly followed by Gene Vincent in December 1959, soon joined on tour by his friend Eddie Cochran. The producer Joe Meek was the first to produce sizeable rock hits in England, culminating with The Tornados’ instrumental “Telstar”, which went to number one in both the UK and USA.

Beat music#

In late 1950s Britain a flourishing culture of groups began to emerge, often out of the declining skiffle scene, in major urban centres in the UK like Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and London. This was particularly true in Liverpool, where it has been estimated that there were around 350 different bands active, often playing ballrooms, concert halls and clubs. These beat bands were heavily influenced by American groups of the era, such as Buddy Holly and the Crickets (from which groups the Beatles and The Hollies derived their names), as well as earlier British groups such as The Shadows. After the national success of the Beatles in Britain from 1962, a number of Liverpool performers were able to follow them into the charts, including Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Searchers, and Cilla Black. Among the most successful beat acts from Birmingham were The Spencer Davis Group and The Moody Blues; The Animals came from Newcastle, and Them, featuring Van Morrison, from Belfast. From London, the term Tottenham Sound was largely based around The Dave Clark Five, but other London bands that benefited from the beat boom of this era included the Rolling Stones, The Kinks and The Yardbirds. The first non-Liverpool, non-Brian Epstein-managed band to break through in the UK were Freddie and the Dreamers, who were based in Manchester, as were Herman’s Hermits and The Hollies. The beat movement provided most of the bands responsible for the British invasion of the American pop charts in the period after 1964, and furnished the model for many important developments in pop and rock music, particularly through their small group format – typically lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, and drums, sometimes replacing the rhythm guitar with keyboards, either with a lead singer or with one of the musicians taking lead vocals and the others providing vocal harmonies.

British blues boom#

In parallel with beat music, in the late 1950s and early 1960s a British blues scene was developing, recreating the sounds of American R&B and later particularly the sounds of bluesmen Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, and Muddy Waters.

The Beatles and the “British Invasion”#

The Beatles themselves were less influenced by blues music than the music of later American genres such as soul and Motown. Their popular success in Britain in the early 1960s was matched by their new and highly influential emphases on their own song writing, and on technical production values, some of which were shared by other British beat groups. On 7 February 1964, the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite ran a story about the Beatles’ United States arrival in which the correspondent said “The British Invasion this time goes by the code name Beatlemania”. Two days later, on 9 February, they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. Seventy five per cent of Americans watching television that night viewed their appearance thus “launching” During the next two years, Peter and Gordon, The Animals, Manfred Mann, Petula Clark, Freddie and the Dreamers, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, Herman’s Hermits, The Rolling Stones, The Troggs, and Donovan would have one or more number one singles in the US. Other acts that were part of the “invasion” included The Who, The Kinks, and The Dave Clark Five; these acts were also successful within the UK, although clearly the term “British Invasion” itself was not applied there except as a description of what was happening in the USA. So-called “British Invasion” acts influenced fashion, haircuts and manners of the 1960s of what was to be known as the “Counterculture”. In particular, the Beatles’ movie A Hard Day’s Night and fashions from Carnaby Street led American media to proclaim England as the centre of the music and fashion world.

Freakbeat#

Freakbeat is a loosely defined The genre bridges beat, R&B, pop and psychedelia. The term was coined by English music journalist Phil Smee. AllMusic writes that “freakbeat” is loosely defined, but generally describes the more obscure but hard-edged artists of the British Invasion era such as the Creation, the Pretty Things or Denny Laine’s early solo work. Much of the material collected on Rhino Records’s 2001 box-set compilation Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969 can be classified as freakbeat. Other bands include The Smoke, The Eyes, The Birds, The Action and The Sorrows.

Psychedelic rock#

Psychedelic music is a style of music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of hallucinogenic drugs. It particularly grew out of blues-rock and progressive folk music and drew on non-Western sources such as Indian music’s ragas and sitars as well as studio effects and long instrumental passages and surreal lyrics. It emerged during the mid-1960s among progressive folk acts in Britain such as The Incredible String Band and Donovan, as well as in the United States, and rapidly moved into rock and pop music being taken up by acts including the Beatles, The Yardbirds, The Moody Blues, Small Faces, The Move, Traffic, Cream and Pink Floyd. Psychedelic rock bridged the transition from early blues-rock to progressive rock, art rock, experimental rock, hard rock and eventually heavy metal that would become major genres in the 1970s. Shock rock pioneer Arthur Brown performed his 1968 hit song “Fire” wearing black and white makeup (corpse paint) and a burning headpiece. He has been a significant influence on extreme acts that have followed.

Mainstream and global success#

By the early 1970s, rock music had become more mainstream, and internationalised, with many British acts becoming massively successful in the United States and globally. Some of the most successful artists, such as the individual members of The Beatles, Elton John, David Bowie, and Rod Stewart performed their own songs (and in some cases those written by others) in an eclectic variety of styles, in which the presentation of the performance itself became increasingly important. By way of contrast, the former psychedelic-pop act, The Status Quo, dropped the definite article from their name and became one of the most successful British rock acts by presenting an apparently unsophisticated style of boogie-based rock music; and Van Morrison gained international critical acclaim through a blend of rock, jazz and blues styles. Some well-established British bands that began their careers in the British Invasion, notably The Rolling Stones, The Who and The Kinks, also developed their own particular styles and expanded their international fan base during that period, but would be joined by new acts in new styles and subgenres.

British folk rock#

British folk rock developed in Britain during the mid to late 1960s by the bands Fairport Convention, and Pentangle which built on elements of American folk rock, and on the second British folk revival. Using traditional English music as its basis, these bands drew heavily on the Child Ballads, ballads of the British Isles from the medieval period until the 19th century. An early success was Fairport Convention’s 1969 album Liege and Lief, but it became more significant in the 1970s, when it was taken up by groups such as Pentangle, Steeleye Span and the Albion Band. It was also influential in those parts of the world with close cultural connections to the UK, such as the US and Canada and gave rise to the subgenre of Medieval folk rock and the fusion genres of folk punk and folk metal. By the end of the 1970s the genre was in steep decline in popularity, as other forms of music, including punk and electronic began to be established.

Progressive rock#

Progressive or prog rock developed out of late 1960s blues-rock and psychedelic rock. Dominated by British bands, it was part of an attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility. Progressive rock bands attempted to push the technical and compositional boundaries of rock by going beyond the standard verse-chorus-based song structures. The arrangements often incorporated elements drawn from classical, jazz, and international sources later called “world music”. Instrumentals were common, while songs with lyrics were sometimes conceptual, abstract, or based in fantasy. Progressive rock bands sometimes used concept albums that made unified statements, usually telling an epic story or tackling a grand overarching theme. Many bands broke up, but some, including Genesis, ELP, Yes, and Pink Floyd, regularly scored Top Ten albums with successful accompanying worldwide tours.

Glam rock#

Glam or glitter rock developed in the UK in the post-hippie early 1970s. It was characterised by “outrageous” clothes, makeup, hairstyles, and platform-soled boots. The flamboyant lyrics, costumes, and visual styles of glam performers were a campy, playing with categories of sexuality in a theatrical blend of nostalgic references to science fiction and old movies, all over a guitar-driven hard rock sound. It has had a direct influence on acts that rose to prominence later.

Hard rock/heavy metal#

With roots in blues-rock, psychedelic rock and garage rock the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, powerful sound, characterised by overt rhythmic basslines, highly amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall loudness. Heavy metal lyrics and performance styles often incorporated elements of fantasy and science fiction, and are generally associated with masculinity and machismo. The three pioneering heavy metal bands, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple, were all British and, while gaining little critical acclaim, they and the next generation of metal groups, which included American, Australian and continental bands beside British acts Judas Priest, Motörhead and Rainbow, attracted large audiences and record sales. Rainbow moved heavy metal into stadium rock while Motörhead introduced a punk rock sensibility and an increasing emphasis on speed. After a decline in popularity in the late 1970s Judas Priest discarded most of the genre’s blues influences, particularly on their 1980 album British Steel, which opened the door for the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) including Iron Maiden, Vardis, Saxon and Def Leppard, and a return to popularity in the 1980s. There’s also a large British influence in the doom/gothic metal scene, pioneered by such bands as Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Anathema. Grindcore, or simply grind, was a hybrid of death metal and hardcore punk, characterized by heavily distorted, down-tuned guitars, high speed tempo, blast beats, songs often lasting no more than two minutes (some are seconds long), and vocals which consist of growls and high-pitched screams. Pioneers, the British band Napalm Death inspired other British grindcore groups in the 1980s, among them Extreme Noise Terror, Carcass and Sore Throat. Probably the most successful British metal band since the days of NWOBHM were Cradle of Filth, formed in 1991, and pursuing a form of extreme metal that is difficult to categorise. The term “retro-metal” has been applied to such bands as The Darkness, whose mix of glam rock and heavy riffs earned them a string of singles hits and a quintuple platinum album with One Way Ticket to Hell… and Back (2005), which reached number 11 in the UK charts. Bullet for My Valentine, from Wales, broke into the top 5 in both the U.S. and British charts with their metalcore, a mixture of metal and hardcore, with Scream Aim Fire (2008).

Pub rock#

Pub rock was a short-lived trend that left a lasting influence on the British music scene, especially in punk rock. It was a back-to-basics movement that reacted against the glittery glam rock of David Bowie and Gary Glitter, and peaked in the mid-1970s. Pub rock developed in large north London pubs. It is said to have begun in May 1971 with Eggs over Easy, an American band, playing in the Tally Ho! in Kentish Town. A group of musicians who had been playing in blues and R&B bands during the 1960s and early ’70s soon formed influential bands like Brinsley Schwarz, Ducks Deluxe and Bees Make Honey. Brinsley Schwarz was probably the most influential group, achieving some mainstream success both in the UK and in the States. The second wave of pub rock included Kilburn and the High Roads, Ace, Johnny Kid & the Pirates, and Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers; these were followed by the third and final wave of pub rock, including Dr. Feelgood, and Sniff ’n’ the Tears. Several pub rock musicians joined the new wave acts such as Graham Parker’s backing band, The Rumour, Elvis Costello & the Attractions and even The Clash.

Punk rock#

Punk rock developed between 1974 and 1976, originally in the United States, where it was rooted in garage rock, and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music. The first punk band is usually thought to be the Ramones from 1976. This was taken up in Britain by bands also influenced by the pub rock scene, like the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned, particularly in London, who became the vanguard of a new musical and cultural movement, blending simple aggressive sounds and lyrics with clothing styles and a variety of anti-authoritarian ideologies. Punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock, creating fast, hard-edged music, typically with short songs, stripped-down instrumentation, and often political, anti-establishment lyrics. Punk embraced a DIY (do it yourself) ethic, with many bands self-producing their recordings and distributing them through informal channels. 1977 saw punk rock spreading around the world, and it became a major international cultural phenomenon. However, by 1978, the initial impulse had subsided and punk had morphed into the wider and more diverse new wave and post-punk movements.

New wave#

As the initial punk impulse began to subside, with the major punk bands either disbanding or taking on new influences, the term “New Wave” began to be used to describe particularly British bands that emerged in the later 1970s with mainstream appeal. These included pop bands like XTC, Squeeze and Nick Lowe, the electronic rock of Gary Numan as well as songwriters like Elvis Costello, rock & roll influenced bands like the Pretenders, the reggae influenced music of bands like The Police, as well as bands of the mod revival like The Jam and of the ska revival like The Specials and Madness. By the end of the decade many of these bands, most obviously the Police, were beginning to make an impact in American and world markets.

Post-punk#

Beside the development of mainstream new wave, there were also less commercial, darker acts, classified as post-punk. Like new wave they incorporated a range of influences, including glam rock, krautrock, electronic music, Jamaican dub music (specifically in bass guitar), and American funk. Examples of early British post-punk were Siouxsie and the Banshees, Wire, Magazine and Public Image Ltd. The other outfits that arrived on the British scene were per chronological order, Joy Division, the Cure, the Fall, Echo & the Bunnymen, Gang of Four, Bauhaus, Tubeway Army, Orange Juice, the Psychedelic Furs, Television Personalities, the Lords of the New Church, Killing Joke, the Smiths and the Jesus and Mary Chain. Post-punk would be a major element in subsequent gothic and alternative rock genres.

2 tone#

Two-tone or 2 tone is a genre of British popular music of the late 1970s and early 1980s that focused traditional Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae music with elements of punk rock and new wave music. Its name derives from 2 Tone Records, a record label founded in 1979 by Jerry Dammers of the Specials, and references a desire to transcend and defuse racial tensions in Thatcher-era Britain: many two-tone groups, such as the Specials, the Selecter and the Beat, featured a mix of black, white, and multiracial people. Originating in the Midlands city Coventry in England in the late 1970s, it was part of the second wave of ska music, following on from the first ska music that developed in Jamaica in the 1950s and 1960s, and infused with punk and new wave textures.

Folk punk#

Folk punk or rogue folk is a fusion of folk music and punk rock, or occasionally other genres, which was pioneered by the London-based band The Pogues in the 1980s. It achieved some mainstream success in the 1980s and, particularly as the subgenre of Celtic punk, has been widely adopted in areas of the Celtic diaspora in North America and Australia and by many bands in continental central and eastern Europe. Unlike earlier Celtic rock and electric folk groups, folk punk groups tend to include relatively little traditional music in their repertoire, but instead usually performed their own compositions, often following the form of punk rock, using additional folk instrumentation, including, mandolin, accordion, banjo and particularly violin. Other bands adopted some traditional forms of music, including sea shanties and eastern European gypsy music. Among the most successful performers were The Men They Couldn’t Hang, New Model Army, Oysterband, The Levellers,

Genre family: British styles of music